The Bronx judge under fire for sentencing an ex-NYPD sergeant to at least three years behind bars once offered a sweetheart deal to an alleged gang member who beat a homeless man to death.
Justice Guy Mitchell in 2018 controversially served up what amounted to just nine months in prison for 19-year-old Branlee Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempted assault, The Post previously reported.
Mitchell is now facing another firestorm for sentencing former NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran to three to nine years in prison on Thursday for fatally throwing a picnic cooler at a moped-fleeing drug suspect, Eric Duprey, in August 2023.
The judge had sentenced Duran, 38, to manslaughter — which carries a possible penalty of anywhere from probation to up to 15 years behind bars.
In the prior controversial case, Mitchell, then serving in Manhattan Supreme Court, had even floated the possibility of giving Gonzalez zero jail time, but changed his mind the same day The Post began covering the case.
Gonzalez relentlessly pummeled Lucio Bravo, 69, on May 18, 2017 after the elderly man allegedly catcalled a loved one in Washington Heights. Bravo slipped into a coma while another victim suffered minor injuries.
Manhattan prosecutors had called on Gonzalez to get at least 10 years, alleging he was a member of the “Gorilla Stones” gang.
The victim’s grieving daughter also demanded a stiff prison term.
“Yes, I believe in second chances but I also believe the defendant must learn that all actions have consequences,” she wrote to the judge in a letter.
Mitchell at first told Gonzalez he’d likely get no jail time if he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and stayed out of trouble. But the judge then reversed course and put forward a sentence of 1 ¹/₃ to four years in prison — which would see the teen locked up for at least nine months, The Post reported at the time.
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Gonzalez’s lawyer, Luis Diaz, had argued his client deserved leniency because he had miserable childhood, including sexual abuse by a family member.
In the recent manslaughter trial, Mitchell, now a Bronx judge, disagreed with Duran’s lawyers’ argument that the cop had chucked the cooler at Duprey to save other officers’ lives in a chaotic moment.
He justified the sentence, in part, by saying it would serve as a “general deterrent” for other police officers.
“The distinction is that the deceased will no longer be seen again by his family,” Mitchell said at Duran’s sentencing hearing.
